SOURCE SHEET - living conditions for captives during the Middle Passage
A) They had not so much room as a man in his coffin, either in length or breadth. It was
impossible for them to shift or turn with any degree of ease. …every man slave is to be allowed
six feet by one foot four inches for room, every woman five feet ten by one foot four, every boy
five feet by one foot, and every girl four feet six by one foot…
B) On the subject of the stowage and its consequences, Dr. Trotter says, that the slaves in the
passage are so crowded below, that it is impossible to walk through them, without treading on
them. Those, who are out of irons, are locked spoonways (in the technical phrase) to one
another. It is the first mate’s duty to see them stowed in this way every morning; those who do
not quickly into their places, are compelled by a cat-of-nine-tails.
C) On being brought on board, says Dr.
Trotter, they show signs of extreme
distress and despair, and regret at being
torn from their friends and connections;
many retain those impressions for a long
time; in proof of which, the slaves on
board his ship being often heard in the
night, making an howling melancholy
noise, expressive of extreme anguish.
D) In the interval of being upon deck
they are fed twice. They have also a pint
of water allowed to each of them a day…
E) Mr. Falconbridge was down only
fifteen minutes, and became so ill by it
that he could not get up without, and
was disabled (the dysentery seizing him
also) from doing duty the rest of the
passage. On board the same ship he
has known two or three instances of a
dead and living slave found in the
morning shackled together.
F) Captain Hall says, after the first eight
or ten of them come on board, the men
are put into irons. They are linked two
and two together by the hands and feet,
in which situation they continue till they
arrive, in the West Indies, except such as
may be sick, whose irons are then taken
off. The women however, he says, are
always loose.
These meals, says Mr. Falconbridge,
consist of rice, yams, and horse-beans,
and now and then a little beef and
bread.
G) A woman…who was brought on board, refused sustenance, neither
would she speak. She was then ordered the thumb-screws, suspended in
the mizzen rigging, and every attempt was made was made with the cat to
compel her to eat, but to no purpose. She died in three or four days
afterwards.
Who’s Who
Reverend John Netwon served on five slaving voyages in the mid-18th century. On the last of
these he served as captain. Later in life he became an abolitionist, and was the author of the
hymn ‘Amazing Grace’.
Dr. Thomas Trotter was a surgeon in the Royal Navy. In 1783, he went on a slaving voyage from
Liverpool, serving as surgeon of the Brookes.
Mr. Alexander Falconbridge was a surgeon who went on four slaving voyages in the 1780s. His
experiences convinced him to join the abolitionist movement, in which he became a leading
figure.
Captain Hall served in the Royal Navy from the 1760s to 1780s, and was stationed at a series of
slave colonies, including Barbados, the Leeward Islands, Jamaica and St. Domingue.
Glossary
Abolitionist: A person who wishes to ban a system or practice e.g. the institution of slavery
Advocate: to publicly support something
Cat-of-nine-tails: a multi tailed whip
Dysentery: an infection of the intestines
Locked Spoonways: fitting together like spoons when lying down
Melancholy: sadness, depression
Mizzen Rigging: the rigging which supports the mast of a ship
Sustenance: nourishment in the form of food and drink
Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Individual written activities
Why do you think captains of slave ships choose to pack their captives so
tightly together below deck?
Look at sources B, C, D, E, which describe the living conditions below
deck. How do they contradict what Mr. Norris says?
What general sense do you get of slave’s living conditions? Write down
a few keywords that sum up your impressions.
Look at source F. Why do you think male slaves were chained up, whilst
female slaves were not?
In source G, a woman starves herself to death, in spite of torture. Why
do you think slaves went to such lengths to commit suicide?
All of the sources are extracts from a pamphlet called An Abstract of the
Evidence delivered before a select committee of the House of Commons
in the years 1790 and 1791; on the part of the petitioners for the
abolition of the slave-trade (1791). None of the extracts are testimonies
from enslaved Africans themselves. How does this affect our
understanding of their experiences?
Small group discussion activities
7. Compare and discuss your answers with your group.
8. What do you think the worst thing about being an enslaved captive on
the Middle Passage would be?
9. Imagine that you are an enslaved African aboard a slave ship. How
would you react to such treatment and conditions and why?
Websites for further information
http://abolition.e2bn.org/index.php
http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/search.html